[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[Amo]

I don't know why the press keep parroting that Sam's teams are well organised. We're not. You don't let in 6 just by having a man sent off, with Robbo's saves it could have been 10. We've been disorganised all season. He makes 4,5,6 changes every game, always plays players out of position, we send 1 man to defend the short corner, never close down players within shooting range.

Which is why I was never confident when we went 2-0 up. We crumble under pressure.

[G Somerset Rover]

Pathetic.

Samba got a foot on the ball, and even if you chalk it down to him, that was still one goal that he cost us.

Bleddy hell.

He got that 'touch' after hacking him down.

Blatant penalty. Blatant red card.

Nobody can argue that.

[DE.]

ITS NOT A CASE OF BLAME JUST FOR TONIGHT ITS BLAME FOR THE FIRST LEG AND THE REST OF THE AWAY FORM ....ITS PATHETIC.

First leg we were very unlucky in the second half not to have equalised. We could've quite easily gone into this leg at 1-1 or even 2-1.

I saw enough positives from the first 25 minutes to convince me we'll be okay. Samba ruined the game for us.

OKAY?

[Bobby G]

I dont blame Sam for anything today. His decisions were spot on and people be fair in your assessments. You are blaming him for the team SUPPOSEDLY sitting back for a couple of minutes after scoring our second?

He proved one thing today and that was he can set us up to play against the best of them and attack them too. Im on his side for now, but if we revert to shittball from next Thursday again, I wont stand for it.

[DE.]

Pathetic.

Samba got a foot on the ball, and even if you chalk it down to him, that was still one goal that he cost us. What about the other 5? This has happened a million times in the past and everyone knew that as soon as things got tough we would capitulate. BFS did not have a plan B, and the defenders looked completely helpless to stop Villa.

What next, with Allardyce? Surviving in the league, holding on to 13th-14th place if we're lucky? Is this the future some people want us to have? Cause BFS will more than happily settle for that, because it's "realistic for a club our size" and everything.

Strange. It was the most obvious foul and red card you'll see. He cost us 1 goal from the pen, and the other 5 can be partially chalked down to being down to 10 men. If you don't consider that a disadvantage then I don't know what to say.

[joey_big_nose]

I thought we were poor first leg, but tonight hats off to Sam. He picked the young attacking players, pulled a major surprise in putting Pedersen in the middle which worked well, and we started the game brilliantly. Thats what the fans wanted.

However we were screwed by a very poor decision, and a moment of madness by Samba. After that I was very impressed how hard we fought to the end, scoring two more goals.

So all in all I am heartened by the performance. The side has has settled a little, we have found a major talent in Olsson, and Kalinic is looking good. Not that devastated.

[ABBEY]

WRONG THREAD

[Tom]

I thought I'd be feeling much worse after the game once I saw the line up, at least we did some things right today.

One huge positive for me is we scored 2 goals of pure football class in Kalinic's second and Olssons

[DanLad]

o neal GO SHAG YERSELF YOU ARROGENT PRICK

Be fair Abbey, he's just defending his own same as any of us would.

[G Somerset Rover]

I thought I'd be feeling much worse after the game once I saw the line up, at least we did some things right today.

One huge positive for me is we scored 2 goals of pure football class in Kalinic's second and Olssons

Trust me if Rooney had scored Olsson's goal and United had moved it around as we did in the build up we'd be seeing it for months.

[RovertheHill]

Posted this in the Villa thread but I'll post it here now.

I'm assuming we won't be getting rid now. If he had two games to save his job then the players will have saved it for him.

There really are no excuses now for Allardyce going forward. So far this season we have proved that we are INCAPABLE of playing a tight defensive game and nick one at the other end (i.e. the first leg plus numerous other games), but we have proved that when we do go at people we are far, far better. It has to be attacking, all out, high tempo football from here on in. No excuses. No ifs and buts. This team cannot play any other way.

[Bobby G]

What has that ugly 4 eyed badger said?

[DE.]

We did play some good stuff tonight, particularly in the first half an hour. I think the players panicked a little when it went to 2-1, we dropped off deeper and let them come at us. If we'd gotten to HT at 2-1 perhaps Sam could have calmed them down and organised them, but Samba's sending off made it very difficult. The rest of their goals came from our desperate attempts to attack and score with a man less. We had no option but to go forward and paid the price for that.

[ABBEY]

Be fair Abbey, he's just defending his own same as any of us would.

EDDITED ...BUT HE IS THO

[slough_rover]

I know Sam deserves praise for todays performance but in hindsight it is his fault we aren't going to Wembley. If he'd employed the same positive tactics in the home leg we surely would be celebrating tonight! Yes he's safe in his position atm but I still blame his poor overall management for us not progressing.

[broadsword]

Yeah, I don't understand why we played like we did tonight in the first 25 minutes but the rest of the time we're donkey poo.

It's very frustrating.

[Kelbo]

Yeah, I don't understand why we played like we did tonight in the first 25 minutes but the rest of the time we're donkey poo.

It's very frustrating.

Are you for real?

[Hughesy]

Cannot blame Sam tonight.........right tactics, right team & we started off fantastic - we were in total control.

As for sitting back - we didnt! Hence why their 2nd goal was a lump over the top and only Emerton (from midfield) was behind the ball when played forward.

Poor referring & Samba's red cost us dear......Not the tactics - we kept going, we got 2 more goals with 10 men & the boys did us Proud

[Kelbo]

We did play some good stuff tonight, particularly in the first half an hour. I think the players panicked a little when it went to 2-1, we dropped off deeper and let them come at us. If we'd gotten to HT at 2-1 perhaps Sam could have calmed them down and organised them, but Samba's sending off made it very difficult. The rest of their goals came from our desperate attempts to attack and score with a man less. We had no option but to go forward and paid the price for that.

Should never have got to 2 - 1 People pay good money to watch football, referees are paid well too and should not make those kind of mistakes!!

Ref makes one, its a mistake, player makes one, sent off and game over, yes it was a foul by Samba and a Pen, but there was an even more blatent foul on Nelsen for the first and he wasnt even going for the ball!!

Tell me the difference?

[DE.]

Should never have got to 2 - 1 People pay good money to watch football, referees are paid well too and should not make those kind of mistakes!!

Ref makes one, its a mistake, player makes one, sent off and game over, yes it was a foul by Samba and a Pen, but there was an even more blatent foul on Nelsen for the first and he wasnt even going for the ball!!

Tell me the difference?

Yes, I know we were unlucky. But on the other hand Villa were unlucky not to have two penalties in the first leg so let's not get too carried away feeling sorry for ourselves over one decision.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Let's face it, losing both ties and letting in 7 goals in the process doesn't smack of managerial brilliance.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Can't blame Sam for tonight the tactics and formation worked, it was the players losing their head after the bad ref decision and Samba's stupidity that cost us this game. The end result could have been a different story if these two incidents didn't happen as we looked pretty comfortable.

Sam has to drill the positives from this game into the players and get us all fired up against Wigan. We saw passion, heart and determination from this side tonight, something we haven't seen to this extent for quite a long time. If we can take this into our upcoming games then i can't see us being relegated.

[RovertheHill]

The next month is huge for this club and will go a long way to see whether we remain a Premier League team or are in for a hell of a relegation battle. By 22nd February we will have played

Wigan, Hull and Bolton at home, and West Ham and Stoke away. If we play the way we know we can play, if the manager has some faith in the team and sets it up to attack and go at teams, then by the 22nd February we could be well on the way to the required number of points to stay in this league. We have to have the ambition to say that nothing less than 10 points from those 5 games is acceptable, and 11 or more is certainly possible. However, if he reverts to type, we could have blown our best chances of getting points on the board. I'm hoping that if nothing else, the events of the last week or so will mean that we will set up to attack and press.

[Paul Mellelieu]

I guess we need five more wins a couple of draws to be safe.

[Hughesy]

Let's face it, losing both ties and letting in 7 goals in the process doesn't smack of managerial brilliance.

But scoring 4 at Villa isnt bad either!